Proceedings of the 4th WSEAS International Conference on Fluid Mechanics, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, January 17-19, 2007

137

Improvement Strategies for Mine Dewatering Process

M.G. RASUL and P.J. VERMEULEN
School of Advanced Technologies and Processes
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health, Central Queensland University
Rockhampton, Queensland 4702
AUSTRALIA

Abstract: A Coal Mine in Australia has experienced inefficiencies and reliability problems with the current
dewatering process. This study investigated and discussed the causes for the inefficiency. The optimum
conditions relating to functionality, as well as financial and environmental sustainability are discussed.
Mapping of water flow is done to identify hazardous areas within the mine. Dewatering process modelling and
calculation, and methods of water quality improvement are presented and discussed. Strategies for efficient
dewatering system is developed and recommended for the mine authority.

Key-Words: Mine dewatering process, improvement strategies, dewatering model, hazardous areas.

1 Introduction of water are being expelled or consumed by the

Essential to any operating mine is the dewatering reference mine over periods of time. Through out the
process whereby water is expelled from the mine. mine certain sections or drives remain flooded
The efficiency and effectiveness of this process is causing not only operation difficulties but also serous
directly proportional to the operating cost of the health risk issues such as drowning, acid burning,
mine. Vital to the engineers and supervisors tripping and many other common injuries. These
overseeing the dewatering process is to know the areas need to be mapped and then determined how to
parameters in which the dewatering system operates. best transport this water via means of gravity to a
A functional specification of the dewatering system pumping station. Water seeping through rock to
involves water mapping of entire dewatering process eventually find its way to the bottom of the mine is
and calculating water flows into and out of pumping poor practice as the fluid becomes acidic or alkaline
stations. Consequently as the mine expands its prior to being pumped, thereby causing not only
production, the dewatering system finds itself in mechanical pumping issues but also environmental
unknown territory. issues.
The mine in this study had two working sites, This study revealed that there are imminent
arbitrarily named as Mine North and Mine South. problems within the mine de-watering process.
Both mine north and south covers accumulatively 24 Expulsion of process water that filters down the mine
different levels with each level having a diameter of is a difficult process due to the accumulation of
approximately 1km. Southern end of the mine is impurities, complex dewatering flows and high head
much deeper and was established long before requirements of pumps due to underground mining
northern mine. There are pump stations at different requirements and limitations [1-3]. The common
levels i.e levels 16, 14, 12 and 10 as shown in Fig. 1. consensus is that the current dewatering systems are
At level 10 another high head, positive displacement not performing at their peak. Stagnant water flow to
type pump can be found connected in parallel with the pumping stations needs to be improved. The
each other from which water is pumped directly to benefits of this could be that flooding of certain
the tailings dam. North mine has a single pumping drives underground can be eliminated. The added
station at the bottom of the mine on level 15C. It advantage is that the water would not be rich with
consists of 3 positive displacement (PD) pumps acidic properties or with mud thereby extending the
connected in parallel from which the water is life of pumps and reducing operating costs. Equally
pumped to level 10 at Mine South. Level 10 pump as important is determining the dewatering capability
Station is where water from the north and south of of the pumping system as a whole.
the mine combines and gets pumped straight to the The current pumping system is expensive to
tailings dam on the surface. maintain and needs to be conducted more cost
For the existing system, the parameters relating effectively. Certain high maintenance areas need to
to efficiency, effectiveness, cost and critical be targeted and effectively analysed to find an
functionality under optimum operating conditions are improved maintenance strategy. Finding a better
all unknowns. It is not even known what flow rates pumping solution to the current system would
Proceedings of the 4th WSEAS International Conference on Fluid Mechanics, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, January 17-19, 2007 138

involve mapping not only the pumping process water progress) as shown in Fig. 2. Shaded area has been
lines but also the gravity lines proposed to feed the identified as flooded area. Inherently water has
pumping stations. By exploring these points a much resided in mine South most likely due to poor mining
more thoughtful system can be planned for in the practices dating back to the 1970’s, whereby drives
future savings not only on maintenance costs but also were not drilled to certain pitches coupled with
infrastructure with an added benefit of environmental associated frequent irregularities. In an ideal world
conservation due to reduced acidic levels. these drives need to be redrilled however due to
Once it has been established where it is best to financial reasons this is not a viable option. However,
capture water in large quantities, a suitable system of Mine North does not have major water build up
water pumping can be designed. Currently the problems due to the gradient of new drives and
pumping system does not run efficiently and as such associated modern mining methods.
reliability centred maintenance issues need to be The most logical solution to this predicament is
addressed in order to increase the efficiencies of the to allow time for Geologists, Rock Mechanic
current dewatering system. Eventually, a Engineers, and Mining Engineers to find out if it is
recommendation should be made in a manner where possible and financially viable to drill sump holes to
all personnel including the maintenance fitters drain flooded areas. Should the mining experts fail in
through to the managers are able to retain a sense of their attempts to drain and expel water to localised
ownership towards the dewatering system. This study points for dewatering reasons mechanical means such
presents water flow mapping and identify hazardous as “flygt” pumps can be employed to dewater certain
areas, and then how the water is expelled from the areas of the mine prone to flooding [4, 5]. Flygt
mine through means of efficient pumping systems. pumps are not the first choice in guiding and sending
Strategies for improved dewatering system are water to localised points for a number of reasons.
developed and discussed. The maintenance costs on these pumps would be
high due to the erosive nature of the large amounts of
sediment contained in the trapped water [3, 6]. It is
to be noted that supplying electrical power to these
pumps would be difficult due to the awkward
physical position of the pumps. i.e. a single pump
may be kilometres away from the closest electrical
power source. Pneumatically driven pumps might be
the answer, but these are expensive to run and air
hoses still need to be linked from the pump to an
energy source. As such it would be logical to first
explore geological methods of water transfer. An
automatic reduction in acid levels in the water having
financial, environmental and safety cost benefits can
be achieved by eliminating stagnant water.
The important advantage for mapping
waterlogged areas in the mine is to create a system
whereby stagnant water can be drawn to localised
Fig.1: Different levels of pump stations and their areas for water expulsion. The guidance of water to
maximum dewatering capability localised areas can be performed by preferably
geological means or secondly mechanical means. A
2 Hazardous Areas and Water range of centrifugal as well as positive displacement
Mapping (PD) type pumps can be employed to expel water
The ultimate goal of water mapping is to gain an from the mine once it has been accumulated to
appreciation as to which areas of the mine are centralised points [7]. Currently the system is only
flooded hence making regions inaccessible, capable of maintaining the present dewatering
dangerous and inoperable. Prior to this study no requirements. It is however not known what the full
formal hazardous area identification had been capacity of the dewatering system is as no functional
conducted, hence creating hearsay arguments specification is available in the mine. This
amongst maintenance and production departments, information is crucial to future strategic planning,
with no measures taking place in solving water development and increased production. Maintenance
problems. Water mapping of Mine North and South as well as operational costs for the dewatering system
has been completed and plotted on “Mine Site” is considered high. Engineering principals need to be
(Software used by the Mine to model mining
Proceedings of the 4th WSEAS International Conference on Fluid Mechanics, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, January 17-19, 2007 139

applied to identify the viability of maintenance and ⎛ 1⎞

operations targeted savings. N ⎜⎜ Q 2 ⎟⎟
N s = ⎝ 3⎠ (5)
(gE p )4
Where N = speed of pump in rad/s

Losses were calculated as follows:

LV2
hL pipe friction = f (6)
d 2g
V2
hL valves = k L (7)
2g
(V1 − V2 ) 2
hL enl arg ement = k L (8)
2g
Where f = pipe friction factor, L = length of pipe (in
meter), V = velocity of fluid (in m/s), d = internal
Fig. 2: Mine water accumulation map diameter of pipe (in meter) and kL = valve friction
factor.
3 Dewatering Model
A suitable dewatering/pumping system is required to
determine the maximum possible process water flow
4 Results and Discussion
Currently, two types of pumps, called Denver Orion
rates out of the Mine. This information is essential
and National Oilwell, are used in the mine
for planning for the future dewatering demands, as
dewatering process. Pump flow curves have been
well as establishing a maintenance strategy.
obtained for all pumps located in the mine. All
Bernoulli’s equations were used to determine duty
pumps excluding the PD pumps on levels 10 and 15C
curves of the pumping system [8, 9]. The equations
are Denver Orion HM Slurry pumps. “Svedala” the
used were:
company distributing Denver Orion pumps only have
⎛ P P ⎞ ⎛V V ⎞
2 2

Ep = (Z2 − Z1 ) +⎜⎜ 2 − 1 ⎟⎟ +⎜ 2 − 1 ⎟ + Losses (1) pump flow curves available for single Denver pumps.
⎝ γ γ ⎠ ⎜⎝ 2g 2g ⎟⎠ The Denver Orion’s in use at mine have all been
Where, Ep is the required pump head which can be connected in parallel, consequently the pump flow
converted to fluid energy required by the pump curves would be different for a single pump as
impeller, Z is the elevation level at the designated opposed to two of the same pumps connected in
point (in meter), P is the pressure acting at the parallel. A theoretical means must be sought to
designated point (in Pa), V is the fluid velocity in the finding a pump flow curve for two pumps in parallel.
pipe (in m/s), and Losses is the summation of pipe It should be noted that the parallel connection is only
and fitting losses of the system (in meter). employed in emergency situations.
Operational data on PD pumps have been
The flow rate (Q) was assumed conserve, given by, collected. The type of pipes transporting fluids as
Q = AV (2) well as the paths being followed and number of
bends and fittings in piping etc are known. Using the
where, A is the cross-sectional area of pipe in m2 and
model equations presented in section 3, the
V is the fluid velocity in m/s.
dewatering capabilities of each pump station have
been calculated. Once the maximum flow rates have
Pump power, in kW, can be determined by,
been established for each individual pump, a
Pump Power = ρgQE p (3) dewatering flow rate can be accurately calculated for
Cavitation (net positive suction head available, the entire mine. Additionally maintenance issues
NPSHA) and specific speed (Ns) check was done by, need to be addressed regarding the pumping
Po P situation. The Denver Orion pumps are operating at
NPSHA = − v − Z s − hL (4) high speeds and cause large amounts of wear.
ρg ρg
According to maintenance work orders mechanical
Where Po = atmospheric pressure (Pa), Pv = vapor seals are a costly item ($6000 per single
pressure fluid (in Pa), Zs = height of suction side (in replacement). If a second pump was to be connected
m) and hL= head loss in suction side (in meter). in series both pumps together would be operating at a
Proceedings of the 4th WSEAS International Conference on Fluid Mechanics, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, January 17-19, 2007 140

slower operating speed whilst achieving the same that it is not viable to attempt pumping from Mine
duty point. As such, more efficient pumping can take North to the tailings dam as the existing pumps are
place as power is not dissipated in wear but rather grossly undersized for this operation. The pumps are
proportionally in greater work. only capable of producing pressures that would
The PD pumps on levels 10 South and 15C North support a column of water halfway to the surface
appears to suffer from sleeve, valve as well as seat from 15C. The only way it would be possible to
damage. The valves and sleeves show excessive pump from 15C to the tailings dam would be if the
wear. This wear is a direct cause of particles in the pump station was significantly upgraded. Another
process water measuring greater than 6mm [3]. These practical factor and financial factor hindering the
particles are caught in between the valves, seats and direct pumping proposal is the cost associated with
sleeves when the valves open and close. drilling a hole nearly a kilometre deep to 15C in
Consequently the stones and particles are crushed order to make pumping possible. It is financially a
thereby creating wear in the valves, seats as well as smart decision not to endeavour in pumping from
the sleeves. The only present means of cleaning 15C Mine North to the surface.
water prior to it entering the positive displacement
pumps is by screening the water through what is Flow Vs Pressure
known as a trommel screen. The trommel screen 10Level pump station

removes large particle sizes yet unfortunately lets 9000

through smaller sized particles still measuring greater 8000

than 6mm in diameter. It is these particles that cause 7000

damage to the valves of the PD pumps 6000
Pressure in K pa

The maximum dewatering rates for the Denver 5000

Orion pumps as well as the National Oilwell pumps 4000
were calculated. The following parameters are 3000
known for level 10 pump station: Number of turns in 2000
pipe above surface = 10, Number of turns below 1000
surface = 2, Pipe diameter = 0.2metrs (internal), 0
Pump type= 300TP-8m type size 5”*8” and Max 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14
Flow in m^3/s
operating pressure = 7033 kPa. The calculated duty
curve of level 10 Pump is shown in Fig. 3. Similar
calculations have been done for other pumps too. It is Fig. 3: Duty curves for Level 10 Pump
to be noted that level 10 Pump station transports
water not only from Mine South but also from Mine 4.2 Optimal Connection of Denver Orion
North. Level 10 pump Station has a maximum Pumps
dewatering capacity of 58L/s. The maximum Calculation demonstrates that the Denver Orion
possible flow rate from 15C to Level 10 is 97L/s, this pumps operate at a duty point where the pumping
figure combined with 31L/s dewatering rate from efficiency is approximately 53%. This means that
level 12 indicates that level 10 pump station could 47% of the power going into the pump is not put to
have an influx of 128L/s of water. This bottleneck work but rather causes wear and contributes to
effect could be cause for concern and should be inefficiencies such as Eddie currents etc. It can be
considered in the long term planning strategy. It is seen from the pump curves that the maximum
very important to note that the level 10 pump station efficiency of the Denver Orion pumps is in the
having three 300TP-8M (National Oilwell) pumps vicinity of 67%. This value is still low considering
connected in parallel would not produce any more that most centrifugal water pumps operate in the
flow if a fourth pump had to be added in parallel locality of 80% efficiency. Upon consultation with
also, as the pumps are already operating at their Svedala (suppliers of the Denver Orion pumps) it
maximum allowable pressure whilst producing 58L/s was made clear that the pumps are in fact slurry
of process water flow. pumps and due to the nature of the water being
transported need bulkier impellers etc thereby
reducing the efficiencies. 67% maximum efficiency
4.1 Pumping Directly from 15C to Tailings seems low and it is in the Maintenance’s department
Dam favour to explore avenues like connecting the pumps
Of interest to the mining department are the in series, to increase head and reduce unnecessary
comparisons of costs in pumping directly from Mine wear as explained earlier.
North to the tailings dam instead of pumping via Normally a pump can be slowed down to operate
Mine South 10 Level pump. Calculations proved at its most efficient duty point. This however is not
Proceedings of the 4th WSEAS International Conference on Fluid Mechanics, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, January 17-19, 2007 141

possible with the current Denver Orion pump setup A settling pond can be installed on level 10 with
as the head needed to pump exceeds the maximum relative ease as an existing “drive” can be closed up
efficiency value. Experimental work can be carried curving around the P49 Shaft (Fig. 4). Water may be
out whereby pressure gauges are connected in the allowed to flow in one end in a “dirty” condition and
water line with two Denver Orion pumps connected flow out the other end after settling in a “clean”
in series. Flow values can be measured as well as condition. Inevitably a settling pond needs to be
power consumption values thereby creating a constructed on level 10, when this happen water will
pumping system that could be as much as 14% more no longer flow into the positive displacement type
efficient. Should more efficient pumps be available pumps with an adequate NPSHA. For this reason
this figure could be increased to as much as 26%. primer pumps will have to be employed thereby
Bearing in mind that as much as 26% less power eliminating cavitation and other related effects.
would be needed to pump the same amount of water,
savings can be made not only directly on power bills
but there would be 26% less wear on expensive
mechanical seals. Usually the “ball park” costs for 4.4 Maintenance Strategies
operating and maintenance of Denver Orion pump is: Reactive maintenance forms the current cornerstone
45% operating cost, 45% maintenance cost and 15% of the maintenance strategy surrounding the Denver
initial investment cost. A reduction of 26% of the Orion pumps and to an extent the National Oilwell
total maintenance cost as well as operating costs is a pumps. When the pumps seize to work, maintenance
substantial savings. is carried out. Reliability centred maintenance issues
need to be employed whereby thermocouples are
placed in bearings, oils etc. as well as pressure
gauges installed in the discharge pipeline. As the
4.3 Water Quality Improvement temperature rises in the bearings or the water
The main issue clouding the operation of the positive discharge pressure reduces (indicating warn
displacement pumps on level 10 Mine South and 15C impellers) a planner would be able to schedule
Mine North is poor quality of water. Trommel maintenance on the pumps in a far more efficient
screens have been employed on Level 10 Mine South manner than the current system allows for.
with some success. Due to the large hole sizes in the Reliability centred maintenance issues can once
trommel screen copious amounts of grit is able to again be applied to the PD pumps, whereby pressure
flow through the trommel screen and into the positive sensors be installed on the discharge line as well as
displacement pumps. Large particles cause wear in thermo couples be installed on critical bearings. By
the valves, seals, seats and cylinders [4]. It is allowing planned maintenance to occur rather than
expected that particles over 6mm in diameter would reactive maintenance, efficiency will be increased
need to be removed from the process water in order and downtimes reduced. The pressure sensors will
to reduce operating and maintenance costs. The not only indicate what efficiency the pumps are
cheapest method of extracting large particles from operating at but will also indicate if impellers have
the water would be to install a settling dam on level been warn out when for example the efficiency
10 Mine South. The settling pond or dam will extract gradually reduces. Many sensors such as flow meters
large particles in the water due to the effects of or pressure meters (where installed) are not in
laminar flow together with gravitational effects. working order as evident in mine control documents.
The settling ponds need only to remove large By having a trend of information available, planners
particle sizes that would otherwise be crunched will be able to schedule replacement of items such as
between the pumps valve and polyurethane seals bearings, impellers and mechanical seals. By
causing damage. As the positive displacement pumps employing such methods one can ensure that there
are designed to pump “dirty water”, clear water is not are no late night call outs to repair pumps.
a necessity, and may even be a hindrance as the By and large the best method of maintenance
settling ponds would accumulate up to 0.85 meters of improvement is to create ownership amongst the
sediment in a one month time period at the bottom of people working with the pumps on a daily bases.
each pond. When a settling pond has been saturated Their specific knowledge is valuable and the
with sediment it needs to be “mucked out” and the maintenance department needs to mobilise its
sediment taken to either back fill small stopes or be resources by motivating the maintenance fitters. The
taken to the surface as waste material. The cleaning supervisors are at the forefront of this task and they
out frequency is heavily dependant on the amount of inturn need to have mobilised funds and resources
“grit” taken out of the water. available to them.
Proceedings of the 4th WSEAS International Conference on Fluid Mechanics, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, January 17-19, 2007 142

4.5 Long Term Mining Development • Calculations have confirmed that pumping
Strategies water from Mine North to the surface is not
A strategy needs to be developed by the mining possible due to the low pressure capabilities
department on exactly where and how long term of the pump station. Thus water needs to be
mining development will take place. By knowing carried out via Mine South.
precisely where the mine will be expanding towards • The Denver Orion pumps are operating at
will ensure that an appropriate pumping system be very low efficiencies consuming large
installed in Mine North and to a lesser degree Mine amounts of unnecessary power. Series
South. Essentially one needs to know if 15C connection of the pumps needs to be
pumping station will be able to cope with an influx of explored as well as alternative pumps be
even greater amounts of water. Currently 15C considered to increase current efficiencies.
pumping station is more than capable of coping with • Settling ponds need to be constructed hence
the volume of water passing through its system. supplying PD pumps with water that is not
Level 10 Pump however could prove to be a contaminated with large suspended particles,
bottleneck where water from Mine South and Mine causing damage to valves, seats and seals
North are combining. Currently the system is only etc.
able to cope with the amount of water, however • A maintenance strategy needs to be
should water flows increase to higher than expected developed whereby a shift from a reactive
values, maintenance need to be aware of the maintenance is made to a more efficient
predicament in order to plan for the future. preventative maintenance strategy.
• Vital to the long term dewatering strategy for
the Mine, is to acquire a long term mining
development strategy from the production
department, outlining its expected increase in
water consumption as well as physical trend
of future mining progress.

References
[1] Gritzina A, Roudnev A, Burgess K, 2002
“Slurry Pumping Manual”, Warman
International
[2] El-Shall H, Zhang P. 2003, Process for
dewatering and utilization of mining wastes.
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Fig. 4: Proposed settling pond on Level 10 prior to [3] Baumeister T. 1996, Electronic Marks
water being fed to pump station Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, McGraw
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In order to mobilise the current dewatering system http://www.flowpath.com/consulting/consultin
into an effective and efficient process, the following g_services_Environmental-Solutions
outcomes have been achieved: [5] New Generation for Dewatering,
http://www.globalspec.com/featureProducts/De
• Water mapping of problem areas is now tail/ITFlygt/NEW_GENERATION_..
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both the production and maintenance Technology, Butterworth-Heinemann, Great
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and can effectively communicate concerning pumps.globalspec.com/Industrial-
possible solutions. Directory/mine_dewatering-pump
• A fully functional specification for the Mine [8] Street R, Watters G, Vennard J, 1996,
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